We have one beer/food pairing event for February. This month's pairing will take place February 22nd at REO Town Pub where we will sample spicy items made from Saddleback BBQ and paired with beers from Arcadia Ales.

Arcadia Ales claimed a Silver medal at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) competition. Presented by the Brewers Association, GABF is the largest national beer competition that recognizes the most outstanding beers produced in the United States. The top three winners in the competition’s 92 beer categories were announced September 26 at the Great American Beer Festival awards ceremony held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.

For the third year in a row, Ashley’s of Westland is hosting a friendly competition featuring eight different breweries. The field this year contains a great mixture of both long-time favorites and some up and comers. Five of the eight are Michigan breweries, and the other three do a fine job of representing the rest of the country. The first round will feature four beers from each brewery, with the winner being determined by the total glasses sold. The second round features 6 beers per brewery, and the final round will feature eight. In the past, many of the breweries participating have brought a nice combination of their standards as well as highly sought after ones, sometimes even beers never served outside of their own brewpubs. One of the most exciting parts of the two previous throwdowns has been the opportunity it has provided for Ashley’s customers to interact with personnel from the breweries who are on hand.

Arcadia Brewing Company is preparing for the celebration of their 17th Anniversary. The annual event titled, “A Highland Christmas” is a Scottish-themed holiday party and will take place on December 7th, 2013 at Arcadia Brewing Company, located at 103 W. Michigan Avenue in downtown Battle Creek. The event is open to the public. Kilts Their tradition of brewing a unique ale for the event continues. Arcadia XVII is a brown ale brewed with cherries and spices; a perfect winter meal accompaniment.

Once again, Hopcat has outdone themselves with this year’s weekend celebration of Wood & Wild, putting on tap an amazing array of all things barrel aged and/or wild including a selection aged for years in Hopcat’s own underground cellar. Also featured were a limited selection of bottles as well as some Woodford Reserve Barrel-Aged beers released as part of the Beer City Bourbon Barrel challenge.

With summer upon us, the quiet little town of Glen Arbor comes alive with the familiar increase of summer travelers. This makes for the ideal time to hold its annual BBQ & Brew fest underneath the big tent on one of the only empty lots in town.